Hikone Castle

Hikone, Shiga, Japan, Japan

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Hikone Castle is an Edo-period castle in the city of Hikone, Shiga Prefecture, on the eastern shore of Lake Biwa, and it is considered the most significant historical site in Shiga.

It was built starting in 1604 by Ii Naotsugu, son of Tokugawa Ieyasu’s famous general Ii Naomasa, and the full castle complex and its surrounding town took about twenty years to complete. The castle is classified as a hirayama-jō, a flatland hill castle, because it sits on the small hill of Hikone-yama with moats created by diverting a nearby river toward Lake Biwa.

Its main tower (tenshū) was completed in 1607 and is a reconstructed original keep taken from Otsu Castle; it has three floors within three tiers and a distinctive variety of roof gables that give it elegant proportions. Hikone Castle is one of only about twelve castles in Japan that still have their original buildings, and the main keep is designated as a National Treasury, while several gates, watchtowers, a covered bridge, and a stable are Important Cultural Properties.